October 2010

October 30, 2010

OPM Hosts Disability Employment Training

Workshop gave agencies the information and resources they need to develop strong plans for hiring more individuals with disabilities

On Tuesday, October 26, 2010, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) hosted a Disability Employment Training. This event was open to all Federal employees and discussed the hiring of individuals with disabilities and how to meet the goals outlined in President Obama’s Executive Order (E.O.) 13548. Topics discussed at this training included an overview of the E.O., how to effectively use the Schedule A hiring authority, reasonable accommodation guidance, the disability register, and improving return to work outcomes.

“The U.S. Government should be a model employer of persons with disabilities,” said U.S. Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry. “I am committed to a diverse and talented workforce, and that includes improving the Federal employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities.”

E.O. 13548 was issued on July 26, 2010 and mandated that OPM work with the Department of Labor, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Office of Management and Budget to design model recruitment and hiring strategies so that agencies may increase the number of individuals with disabilities they employ. Each agency must create its own plan for increasing opportunities for individuals with disabilities. The E.O. also encourages the increased use of the Schedule A excepted service hiring authority for persons with disabilities as well as internships, fellowships, and training and mentoring programs.

Individuals with disabilities currently make up just over five percent of the Federal workforce and individuals with targeted disabilities make up less than one percent of the Federal workforce. Through efforts like today’s training, the Federal Government is committed to increasing employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities.

“This is a win-win for everyone,” said OPM Deputy Director Christine Griffin. “Employment opportunities are increased for people with disabilities and the Federal government hires highly talented and skilled individuals.”

US Airways Responds To Criticism From Disabled Passengers

by Andrea McCarren

..."Well we passed the civil rights law, the Americans with Disabilities Act, 20 years ago, but that doesn't change attitudes overnight," said Andy Imparato, the President and CEO of the American Association of People with Disabilities.

"I was furious. And I was angry," said Jim Dickson. He was so upset because a similar incident happened to him, also on US Airways. Blind, Dickson always travels with his service dog, Pierson. They flew from DC to Charlotte without a hitch. But after boarding the next flight, he was told to get off.

"It's just infuriating. And I basically don't fly USAir anymore," said Dickson.

Luckily, he'd packed the paperwork three US Airways agents told him he wouldn't need -- verification that Pierson is a service dog and up to date on his shots. Dickson was eventually allowed to return to his seat and fly to his destination...

The Association for Airline Passenger Rights – in partnership with the ADA National Network (formerly DBTACs) – is hosting an educational webinar, “Flying with Wheelchairs: Knowing Your Rights & Responsibilities at 32,000 Feet,” on Tuesday, December 7th from 2:00 – 3:30 pm (EST). Learn more at http://www.flyfriendlyskies.com/events.html or Download the webinar flier

Indiana's budget crunch has become so severe that some state workers have suggested leaving severely disabled people at homeless shelters if they can't be cared for at home, parents and advocates said.

They said workers at Indiana's Bureau of Developmental Disabilities Services have told parents that's one option they have when families can no longer care for children at home and haven't received Medicaid waivers that pay for services that support disabled people living independently…

… There have been no confirmed cases of families dumping severely disabled people at homeless shelters because Indiana wouldn't provide the care needed.

But some families have been on waiting lists for waivers for 10 years. The lists contained more than 20,000 names last month, and one advocacy group predicted they will only grow longer because Gov. Mitch Daniels ordered budget cuts that have eliminated 2,000 waiver slots since July.

Budget cuts also have resulted in the state moving foster children with disabilities to a lower cost program that doesn't provide services for special needs and eliminating a grocery benefit for hundreds of developmentally disabled adults…

This Sunday, October 31 is Halloween 2010! If you’ve never heard a movie audio described before, celebrate the holiday by listening to American Council of the Blind (ACB) Radio when it streams online, via web-based radio station, the full movie Night of the Living Dead (George Romero's original 1968 film) with complete audio description.

Tune in at 8:00 pm EDT at www.acbradio.org/world for the film with all of the classic film's spooky horror described in full by the American Council of the Blind's Audio Description Project. This was produced by ACB in collaboration with VITAC, a captioning & video description company. The described horror film is also available for free on VITAC's website at VITAC.COM - Night of the Living Dead and on VITAC's YouTube channel VITAC - You Tube - Night of the Living Dead Notice provided by Joel Snyder, President, Audio Description Associates, LLC, "The Visual Made Verbal" ™, 6502 Westmoreland Avenue, Takoma Park, MD 20912. Email jsnyder@audiodescribe.com, tel 301 920-0218; Cell: 301 452-1898; Fax: 408 445-0079. For more information about audio description, please visit http://www.audiodescribe.com/ or contact American Council of the Blind at Tel 202 467-5083. website www.acb.org/adp.

Today, the Department of Education issued guidance to support educators in combating bullying in schools by clarifying when student bullying may violate federal education anti-discrimination laws. The guidance issued today also makes clear that while current laws enforced by the department do not protect against harassment based on religion or sexual orientation, they do include protection against harassment of members of religious groups based on shared ethnic characteristics as well as gender and sexual harassment of gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, and transgender individuals. The guidance, which comes in the form of a "Dear Colleague" letter sent to schools, colleges and universities, explains educators' legal obligations to protect students from student-on-student racial and national origin harassment, sexual and gender-based harassment, and disability harassment. The letter provides examples of harassment and illustrates how a school should respond in each case. The White House and Department of Education also announced next steps to address bullying and harassment in schools. Early next year, the White House will host a conference to raise awareness and equip young people, parents, educators, coaches and other community leaders with tools to prevent bullying and harassment. This conference will build upon efforts led by the U.S. Department of Education and other federal agencies to spark a dialogue on the ways in which communities can come together to prevent bullying and harassment. "We've got to dispel the myth that bullying is just a normal rite of passage, or an inevitable part of growing up. It's not," said President Obama. "We have an obligation to ensure that our schools are safe for all of our kids. Every single young person deserves the opportunity to learn and grow and achieve their potential, without having to worry about the constant threat of harassment." "Bullying is a problem that shouldn't exist. No one should ever feel harassed or unsafe in a school simply because they act or think or dress differently than others," said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. "To every student who feels threatened or harassed -- for whatever reason -- please know that you are not alone. Please know that there are people who love you. And please know that we will protect you," Duncan continued. "Students cannot learn if they feel threatened or harassed," said Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Russlynn Ali. "We want to keep students safe and learning, and today's guidance will help us do that." Following the release of today's guidance, the Department plans to hold technical assistance workshops around the country in early 2011 to help educators better understand their obligations and the resources available to take prompt and effective steps that will end harassment and bullying in schools and on college campuses.

The guidance issued today is just one of several efforts in the Department of Education's comprehensive approach to end bullying. In 2009, the Department joined the Departments of Defense, Justice, Health and Human Services, Agriculture, and the Interior to form the Obama Administrations Inter-Agency Task Force on Bullying. In August of this year, the Obama administration hosted the first ever National Bullying Summit and launched both the Stop Bulling Now campaign and www.bullyinginfo.org, a national database of effective anti-bullying programs. For more information about OCR and the anti-discrimination statutes that it enforces, please visit http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/aboutocr.html. To review the "Dear Colleague" letter, please visit: http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague-201010.html.###

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geyAFbSDPVkhttp://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/10/21/president-obama-it-gets-betterPresident Obama: It Gets BetterPosted by Brian Bond on October 21, 2010 at 11:30 PM EDT http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geyAFbSDPVkRecently, several young people have taken their own lives after being bullied for being gay – or perceived as being gay – by their peers. Their deaths are shocking and heartbreaking tragedies. No one should have to endure relentless harassment or tormenting. No one should ever feel so alone or desperate that they feel have nowhere to turn. We each share a responsibility to protect our young people. And we also have an obligation to set an example of respect and kindness, regardless of our differences.We all have a responsibility to protect all of our children. But we also have an obligation to set an example of respect and kindness regardless of our differences. This is personal to me. When I was a young adult, I faced the jokes and taunting that too many of our youth face today, and I considered suicide as a way out. But I was fortunate. One of my co-workers recognized that I was hurting, and I soon confided in her. She cared enough to push me to seek help. She saved my life. I will always be grateful for her compassion and support – the same compassion and support that so many kids need today. In the wake of these terrible tragedies, thousands of Americans have come together to share their stories of hope and encouragement for LGBT youth who are struggling as part of the It Gets Better Project . Their messages are simple: no matter how difficult or hopeless life may seem when you’re a young person who’s been tormented by your peers or feels like you don’t fit in: life will get better.President Obama is committed to ending bullying, harassment and discrimination in all its forms in our schools and communities. That’s why he recorded this message.Last year, the Departments of Education and Health and Human Services joined forces with four other departments to create a federal task force on bullying. In August 2010, the task force staged the first-ever National Bullying Summit, bringing together 150 top state, local, civic, and corporate leaders to begin mapping out a national plan to end bullying. The task force also launched a new website, www.bullyinginfo.org, which brings all the federal resources on bullying together in one place for the first time ever. If you’re a young person who’s been bullied or harassed by your peers, or you’re a parent or teacher who knows a young person being bullied or harassed, here are a few resources that can help you:The Trevor Project

The Trevor Project is determined to end suicide among LBGTQ youth by providing resources and a nationwide, 24 hour hotline. If you are considering suicide or need help, call: 866-4-U-TREVOR (866-488-7386).BullyingInfo.org

BullyingInfo.org is a project of the Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs (IWGYP) focused on providing tools and resources for youth, parents, teachers and mental health providers to prevent and address bullying. It Gets Better Project

The Department of Justice has scheduled three public hearings on four Advance Notices of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRMs), which seek public comment on the possibility of revising the ADA regulations to address accessible web information and services, movie captioning and video description, accessibility of Next Generation 9-1-1, and accessible equipment and furniture. The ANPRMs were published in the Federal Register on July 26, 2010, and the comment period for them closes on January 24, 2011.

The public hearings are scheduled for the following dates and locations:

Deaf and hard of hearing consumer groups are working on a new Universal Captioning Petition to be submitted to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the federal agency that implements the captioning rules for television programming. The petition, by Telecommunications for the Deaf Inc (TDI), could lead to better enforcement of current captioning rules on TV. Current rules require 100 percent of all new TV programs to have captioning available, unless there is an allowable exemption. In many cases, the allowable exemption from captioning is out-of-date, not enforced, or no longer necessary as it reflects rules made over ten years ago, and should be removed.

People who use captioning on TV may include 28 million with hearing loss, 30 million for whom English is a Second Language, 27 million illiterate adults, 12 million children learning to read and 4 million remedial readers. Consumers are discovering that in many cases there is not the expected or desired level of captioning. All disability consumer groups that include people who watch TV and who use captioning are urged to disseminate the TDI survey that will provide data for a petition to be filed at the FCC by a number of national disability consumer groups. Participating groups include the American Association of the Deaf-Blind (AADB), American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), Association of Late-Deafened Adults (ALDA), California Coalition of Agencies Serving the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (CCASDHH), Communication Services for the Deaf (CSD), Deaf and Hard of Hearing Consumer Advocacy Network (DHHCAN), Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA) and National Association of the Deaf (NAD). Please help get this survey disseminated so that the petition can include survey data by all users of captioning on TV. Thank you for your prompt participation. Survey is at http://survey.constantcontact.com/survey/a07e31o7ehbgeolbg6o/a01bkgftu2m9u/questions

FCC Wastes No Time! Comments Sought for New Regulations on 21st Century Communications Act

On October 21, 2010, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a Public Notice soliciting your input on the meaning of key provisions in new Section 716 of the 21st Century Communications & Video Accessibility Act. This new comprehensive disability accessibility legislation was signed by President Obama on October 8. Wasting no time, the FCC asks for public comments on the new obligation for manufacturers and service providers to provide access to Internet browsers in wireless telephones by blind or visually-impaired individuals. This comments solicitation asks also for ways to implement the new recordkeeping obligations. The FCC will use the comments they receive on these topics to develop a full Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) as required by the Act. Comments are due Monday November 22, with Reply Comments due Tuesday, December 7, 2010.

U.S. Access Board to Hold Hearing on Updated Vehicle Guidelines on November 8

The Access Board will hold a public hearing November 8 from 9:30 – 12:00 on proposed updates to its ADA guidelines for buses and vans. The event will provide an opportunity for members of the public and interested parties to provide comment on a proposed rule the Board released in July. The Board’s proposal includes updates to address new types of vehicle systems, such as bus rapid transit and low floor buses, and advances in technology, including automation of announcements. The Board is also proposing revisions to specifications for vehicle ramps, circulation routes, wheelchair spaces, and securement systems. The hearing will take place at the Board’s meeting space in downtown Washington, D.C. at 1331 F St., N.W., Suite 800.

Frankie Mastrangelo is the moderator for both the Justice For All (JFA) national email listerv as well as for the JFActivist blog. She is also an organizer for the American Association of People with Disabilities in Washington, D.C.